1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to bag closures, and more particularly to a new and improved bag closure for a T-shirt bag.
2. Background Information
A T-shirt bag includes a bag portion that serves as a container and two loops of flexible material extending from the bag portion that serve as handles. So configured, the T-shirt bag reminds us of a conventional tank top shirt or undershirt, the bag portion corresponding to the body of the shirt and the loops corresponding to the shoulder straps. We commonly use T-shirt bags made of a strong, thin, plastic material such as polyethylene for carrying such items as groceries, and we do this by simply grasping the uppermost portions of the two loops or handles in one hand.
Grasping the uppermost portions of the two handles in one hand tends to partially close the top of the bag portion, thereby making it less likely that the contents will fall out. But before the handles are grasped in this manner, and after they are released, the top of the bag portion can remain open so that the contents can more readily fall out or be accessible or viewable when we desire otherwise. Consequently, we need a way of keeping the top of the bag portion closed when the handles are not being held.
Although various bag closures exist for securing the top or neck of a conventional plastic bag of the type that has no handles, these closures have certain drawbacks when used with a T-shirt bag. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,441 to Paxton describes a plastic clip that measures one-inch square. Composed of a flat, springy, plastic material, the clip defines an internal bag-neck-confining aperture and a narrow opening in an edge of the clip that provides access to the aperture. The narrow opening divides the clip into a pair of flexible jaws, and the opening is configured to define three inwardly-extending bag-neck-trapping tongues.
In order to apply a closure such as the Paxton clip to the neck of a plastic bag, the bag neck is twisted or bunched in the hand and applied forcibly through the narrow opening into the bag-neck-confining opening. But doing this to a T-shirt bag can intertwine the handles so that they are not easily grasped. Furthermore, placing the top of the bag portion in the clip completely closes the top, while a partial closing may be all that we desire because of the bulk of the T-shirt bag contents. In addition, typical existing closures may be made from polystyrene with the result that they are more stiff and brittle than preferred.
Consequently, it is desirable to have a new and improved closure for a T-shirt bag that overcomes these concerns.